Separating means for spinning or twisting machines.



A. E. RHOADES.

SEPARATING MEANS FOR SPINNING OR TWISTING MACHINES. Arrmonlon FILED MAR. 23, 1910.

1,008,066, Patented Nov. 7, 1911.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH CCMWASHINKITON, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALONZO E. RHOADES, OF I-IOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG-NOR TO DBAPER COM- PANY, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SEPARATING MEANS FOR SPINNING OR TWISTING MACHINES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALoNZo E. RHOADES, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Hopedale, county of lVorcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Separating Means for Spinning or Twisting Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

In yarn-spinning or twisting apparatus separators are interposed between adjacent spindles to prevent the yarns in their rotation from whipping together and breaking as they bow or balloon between the overhead yarn-guides and the travelers revolving around the spindles.

Many difierent forms of separating means have been devised for attaining the desired object, and my present invent-ion has for its object the production of novel and simple separating means which is efiicient in operation and free from certain objections found in practice in separating devices now in general use.

The separators proper, usually thin and fiat metal blades, arranged in upright position between the spindles, are generally operated to stop before the ring-rail reaches its lowest position and to begin rising when the ring-rail meets them on its up-stroke. \Vhen a frame is doffed the attendant has to swing the thread-board up out of the way, and also to turn back the separators from their normal position, before dolfing can be conveniently effected. This involves considerable work, and sometimes the thread-board must be held up, or at timesit may drop and injure the hands of the attendant.

In my present invention I have mounted the separators in such manner that they will rise and fall with the ring-rail through a part of its traverse, but at the same time they are capable of direct rearward movement into inoperative position away from the spindles when the frame is to be dofied. I have provided means to elevate the threadboard automatically by or through such rearward movement of the separators, the said thread-board being retained elevated until lowered into normal position by return of the separators to operative position between the spindles. This arrangement re- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 23, 1910.

Patented Nov. '7, 1911.

Serial No. 551,210.

lieves the attendant from the necessity of handling the thread-board, and at the same time provides for perfect freedom of access to thespindles when dofling.

The various novel features of my invention will be fully described in the subjoined specification setting forth one practical embodiment of the invention, and particularly pointed out in the following claims.

Figure l is a transverse sectional view of a sufiicient portion of a ring-spinning or twisting frame, with one embodiment of my invention applied thereto, the separating means being shown in operative position; Fig. 2 is a similar view, but showing the separators retracted to inoperative position and the thread-board raised, in readiness for dofling; F ig. 3 is a detail in front elevation, on a smaller scale and centrally broken out, to show more clearly the arrangement of the separators and their sustaining means.

The spindles A, spindle-rail B on which they are mounted, the vertically-reciprocating ring-rail C, roller-beam D, thread-board E hinged thereto, and the finger-boards F provided with usual guides or pig-tails Gr, Figs. 1 and 2, may be and are all of usual or well known construction and operate in a manner familiar to those skilled in the art,

In practice the finger-boards are cut away or so shaped to permit the separatorblades H to rise freely at the top of the traverse, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, said separator-blades being conveniently made of sheet metal and slotted to reduce weight, as is customary. Each separator H has fixedly attached to it an upcurved and rearwardly extended arm 1 secured at its inner end to a horizontal carrier-shaft 2 mounted to rock in bearings at the upper ends of supports 3, and in practice the shaft 2 will sustain a set of from fifteen to thirty separators, more or less, as may be desired. Said shaft 2 constitutes a horizontal fulcrum member about the axis of which the separators are movable in vertical planes. An arm 4 secured to the shaft 2 and extended therefrom opposite to the separators has an adjustable weight 5 which to a large extent counterbalances the weight of the separators and their connecting arms 1, and preferably said arm 4 will be midway between the ends of the shaft 2. At this point it may be noted that it is preferable to arrange the separators in groups or sections at each side of the machine, with a shaft 2 for each section, so that there will be as many sections and their shafts as demanded by the length of the frame.

The shart 2 and its attached parts rocks in the bearings on the rocker-arms 3, of which there will be two for each shaft, Fig. 3, the lower ends of said rocker-arms being fixed by set-screws, as 6, on a heavy rock-shaft 7 sustained in hearings or brackets 8 carried by the main frame-work of the machine, said shaft constituting a fulcrum member having fixed bearings. Each bearing bracket is provided with lateral stop lugs 9, 10 which cooperate with toes 11, 12 on the hubs of the rocker-arms and stop the latter in forward and back position, shown respectively in Figs. 1 and 2.

Vt hen the rocker-arms are swung forward, Fig. 1, the separators H project between adjacent spindles and above the ring-rail C, and as the latter rises it engages and lifts the separators as shown by dotted lines, the

' descent of the separators below full line position, Fig. 1, being prevented by means to be described. The rise and fall of the separators under the influence of the ring-rail is effected about the axis of the shaft 2 as a fulcrum, as will be apparent, the counterbalance 5 relieving the rail of the greater part of the weight of the separators and their connecting arms 1.

I have herein shown a rearwardly extended finger 13 projecting from the shaft 2, to which it is fixed, the straight upper edge of said finger having sliding engagement with a stationary controller shown as an elongated extension 14 of a bracket 15 bolted to the dependin flange of the rollerbeam D. The relation between the controller 14. and finger 13 is such that when the rocker-arms 3 are swung about the axis of their fulcrum shaft 7 the finger will be maintained substantially horizontal and thereby the separators H will move back and forth in substantially horizontal paths.

A short lever 16 pivoted at 17 on the controller has pivotally connected with its lower end a curved link 18 pivotally connected at its front, upper end to the bottom of the thread'board E at 19, and pivoted to the upper end of lever 16 is a bent link 20 rearwardly extended and longitudinally slotted at 21. Said slot receives a lateral stud 22 extended from an upturned projection 23 secured to or forming a part of the finger 13.

When the parts are in normal, operative position, Fig. 1, the controller 14: engages the positioning finger 13 near its rear end and maintains the separators in full line po sition as the ring-rail descends, and the weight of the lowered thread-board and its adjuncts acts through link 18 to hold the lever 16 in the position shown. lVhen, llOW- ever, the rail C rises and lifts the separators shaft 2 will be rocked and the finger 13 will swing downward away from the controller, the stud 22 sliding freely in slot 21 as the link 20 follows the movement, but without disturbing the position of the lever 16. Thus while the ring-rail controls the separators the controller 14 is inactive, performing no function, but it resumes its control of the separators through finger 13, just as soon as the descending ring-rail reaches a predetermined point. Now, when it is desired to doff the frame, or if for any other reason it is desirable to have free access to the spindles, the attendant grasps one or more of the separators and pushes them backward into the position shown in Fig. 2. As they are pushed back the rocker-arms 3 are swung rearward on the axis of the shaft 7 as a fulcrum to the position shown, the controller 14: cooperating with the positioning finger 13 to direct the separators in their rearward movement, and when stud 22 reaches the rear end of the slot 21 the link 20 is drawn back. This turns the lever 16 on its pivot 17 into the position shown in Fig. 2 and thereby the curved link 18 is forced upward, swinging up the thread-board E and parts carried thereby into inoperative position, as shown. At this time the weight of all the parts carried by the shaft 2 tends to maintain the rocker-arms in their rearward position, the toes 12 engaging the stop-lugs 10, and as the lower end of lever 16 is thus held in its forward position the thread-board will be maintained in lifted position. From an inspection of Fig. 2 it will'be apparent that not only is the thread-board out of the way but the separators are positioned well back from the spindles, so that the attendant can doff without hindrance, or perform any other requisite operation. To restore the parts to operative position the attendant pulls the separators forward into the full line position, Fig. 1, and through the described connections the thread-board is lowered to operative position. The movement of the thread-board is thus effected automatically by or through manual movement of the separators into and out of operative position, relieving the attendant of any care so far as the thread-board is concerned. hen the separators are retracted they are wholly out of the way, and the operating connections between the separator-supporting means and the thread-board are so located as to avoid interference wit-h other parts of the frame.

On a small frame itmight be practical to have the shaft 2 extend the length of the frame, and mount all of the separators at one side thereon, but in most cases it will be found more convenient to employ the arrangement described, dividing the separators into groups or sections, with a carriershaft, as 2, for each section, and the threadboard would be divided into a corresponding number of parts or divisions.

When the parts are in their normal operative position, Fig. 1, the weight of the devices sustained by the swinging supporting means, viz: the rocker-arms 3, tends to maintain such means in the forward posi tion, with the toes 11 resting against the stop-lugs 9, as shown.

The movement of the separators into and out of position is effected about the axis of the fulcrum member or 7 and also about the movable or shifting fulcrum member 2, as will be obvious.

Various changes or modifications in de tails of construction and arrangement may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the claims annexed hereto.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In apparatus of the class described, a vertically-reciprocating ring-rail, a series of separators, a horizontal carrier-shaft with which they are rigidly connected, swinging supports for and on which the shaft is mounted to rock, to permit rise and fall of the separators by engagement with the ringrail, said supports being movable toward and from the path of the ring-rail to move the separators into and out of operative position, a hinged thread-board, and means governed by swinging movement of said supports to turn the thread-board up when the separators are moved back to inoperative position.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a vertically-reciprocating ring-rail, a series of separators, a horizontal fulcrum member with which they are connected and about the axis of which member they are movable in vertical planes, swinging supporting means for said member, movable to ward and from the path of the ring-rail, a hinged thread-board, and connections between it and said fulcrum member to swing the thread-board up when the fulcrum memher is moved bodily by its supporting means to retract the separators to inoperative position.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a vertically-reciprocating ring-rail, a horizontal rock-shaft, a series of separators fixedly connected therewith and adapted to be raised and lowered by engagement with the ring-rail, swinging supports for said shaft,-

to move it and the separators toward and from the path of the ring-rail, a hinged thread-board, and means governed by swinging movement of said supports to lift the thread-board when the separators are retracted and to lower said thread-board when the separators are operatively positioned in the path of the ring-rail.

l. In apparatus of the class described, a ring-rail, a series of separators, swinging supporting means therefor movable toward and from the path of the ring-rail, a pivotal connection between the series of separators and said means, and a controlling device to cause the separators to travel in substantially horizontal paths when moved in or out by said swinging supporting means, said device comprising a fixed member and a cooperating member extended .from said pivotal connection.

5. In apparatus of the class described, a ring-rail, a series of separators, a horizontal shaft on which they are fixedly mounted, a swinging support movable toward and from the path of the ring-rail and on which the shaft is mounted to rock, a radial finger on the shaft, and a controller cooperating therewith to govern angular movement of said shaft when moved bodily by the swinging support.

6. In apparatus of the class described, a ring-rail, a series of separators, a horizontal shaft on which they are fixedly mounted, a swinging support movable toward and from the path of the ring-rail and on which support the shaft is mounted to rock, said separators being raised and lowered by engagement with the ring-rail during a portion of its traverse and at such time rocking the shaft on which they are fixedly mounted, and controlling means to arrest descent of the separators at a predetermined point on the down stroke of the ringrail, said means comprising a fixed member and a cooperating member extended from the shaft and in sliding engagement with the firstnamed member, the controlling means also operating to cause back and forth movement of the separators in substantially horizontal paths when the support is swung away from or toward the path of the ringrail.

7. In apparatus of the class described, a reciprocating ring-rail, supporting means mounted to rock about the axis of a fulcrum member, fixed bearings for said mem ber, a series of connected separators mounted to rock about the axis of a horizontal fulcrum member sustained on said supporting means, said fulcrum members, parallel to each other and to the ring-rail, swinging movement of the supporting means effecting movement of the separators into and out of the path of the ring-rail, a hinged threadboard, and actuating means therefor governed by swinging movement of said supporting means.

8. In apparatus of the class described, a reciprocating ring-rail, a series of separators, a horizontal rock-shaft with which they are fixedly connected, upright swinging supports for said shaft, located behind the ring-rail and fulcrulned at their lower ends, to move the separators forward into and backward out oi operative position, a hinged thread-board, and actuating connections therefor operated by swinging movement of said supports, to swing the threadboard up when said supports are moved backward to render inoperative said separators.

9. In apparatus of the class described, a vertically-reciprocating ringail, a series of separators, a carrier-shaft with which they are fixedly connected, rocker-arms fulcrumed to swing toward and away from the path of the ring-rail, means to cause the separators to move substantially horizontally when the rocker-arms are swung, a hinged thread-board,'and operating connections between it and the rocker-arms and governed by movement of the latter, to swing upward said thread-board when the separators and said shaft are moved backward to withdraw the separators to inoperative position.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALONZO E. RHOADES.

Witnesses G. L. BELL, E. D. Osoooo.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, 1). C. 

